dog training class will go on

Question:  There is a small park, Mau‘umae, at 16th Avenue and Claudine Street in Kaimuki. For many, many years, Dan Shi­ma­buku, a mailman by day but a wonderful and talented dog trainer the rest of the time, has conducted free dog-training classes there once a week as a community service without a single complaint by neighbors. Beyond that, Dan and his wife, Donna, clean the park of droppings by dogs not in his class and even pull the weeds! Recently a policeman appeared, said there was a complaint and forced some 25 to 30 neighborhood residents in the class to leave the park. The park is on the Hawaiian Humane Society’s list of dog-friendly parks. However, a sign there says no animals are allowed, a sign that we have been told was to be taken down. So we are confused and upset about all this. We all believe that extraordinary community service like Dan Shi­ma­buku’s should be encouraged by government, not hampered. The only other use of the park is for feral chickens to hang out. Don’t community members deserve as much of an opportunity to use our own park as feral chickens?

Answer: Dan Shi­ma­buku will be able to continue his classes.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation will add “dogs on leash allowed” to the sign at Mau‘umae Nature Park, parks Director Toni Robinson said.

The department does designate Mau‘umae a “dog-friendly park,” where dogs on leashes are allowed. (For a list of those parks, go to the Hawaiian Humane Society’s website, hawaiianhumane.org/Dog-Friendly-Parks.html.)

But, Robinson said, the department has never issued permits for dog obedience classes there.

“For a park such as Mau‘umae, where there is no comfort station, we do not issue permits,” she said.

“In the past, younger children’s soccer groups have even requested permits, which we declined to issue.”

But Shimabuku’s class is not an official class, Robinson emphasized. Because he is not taking money or conducting any commercial activity, he is allowed to continue gathering with dog owners and their pets, as long as the dogs are leashed.

Shimabuku, 58, said he became interested in training dogs about 10 years ago when a customer on his mail route had a problem with his pet. He offered to help train the dog, but just two weeks into the training, the dog suddenly died. It was in memory of that dog that Shi­ma­buku started his classes.

In the beginning, he acknowledged, some people complained about the dogs. When told by a police officer that the dogs would have to leave, Shi­ma­buku said he showed the officer the park’s listing as “dog-friendly” but was told police had to go by what the posted sign said.

As of Thursday the sign had not been changed.

“I do this as a community service,” Shi­ma­buku said. Classes are held Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m., April through September. On an average night, 20 to 30 people and their dogs show up. He emphasizes that participants are to pick up after their animals.